Recently, the racing community has poured out its support to Charlie Dean Lefler in the aftermath of losing his father, Jason Lefler. I have been astounded by the goodness of so many people, who in the midst of a great tragedy, are reaching out to a little boy whose life will be forever changed.

A similar goodness continued last night (6-21) when my son’s Cub Scout pack went to the races at Williams Grove. In addition to a great night of racing, the boys had the unique opportunity of meeting Fred Rahmer, who took time out of his schedule to meet with the kids. He answered their questions, had pictures taken with them, and gave out packets of racing memorabilia. Fred’s demeanor was very accommodating, and not contrived. One could tell that he really enjoyed this type of interaction with fans. It impressed me that a man with all of his accomplishments is still willing to spend time with little kids, who at times, may be seen as insignificant in the grand scheme of things.

This type of thing reminds me of how little effort is required to spread good in our communities. We place such huge value in whether our local racing star has done well or not. A make or break season is determined by whether or not the posse has beaten the outlaws. We often miss the little things that truly make a difference. I would be hard pressed to recount the winners of the National open over the last 5 years. This is the biggest race of the year in central PA. Yet, they are so easily forgotten. But one thing is for sure…15 little boys will NEVER forget the night they met a racing legend.

Thank you Fred for spending the time with a group of cub scouts. And thank you Deb Rahmer for helping organize this meeting and Loren Carman for taking pictures. All of you are true ambassadors of “good” in the racing community. With great thanks, Andy Moyer.

That's a great story. He probably made lifetime fans out of those kids. I remember one time when I was a kid, Fred was racing at Port Royal. (I think it was speedweek). His rig was parked right up front and my dad gave me money to get a shirt which they had at his trailer. I was 12 years old at the time. I asked the security guard at the gate of he'd mind if I went right to the Hamilton rig to get a shirt and come right back. He could've easily seen me the whole time and it was during intermission and they were doing work on the track so it wasn't like it was while the cars were on the track or anything. He not only said no but he was a total jerk to me and some guy who was entering the pits at the time saw it and offered to go get me a shirt. Well I got my shirt but it was Rahmer himself who brought it back and he offered to sign it and spoke with me for a minute and then on his way back he gave the security guard a couple of not so kind words of encouragement. I've been a huge Rahmer fan ever since. The thing is, I'll guarantee Fred doesn't even remember it but I do and I'll never forget it.

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Baidu [Spider], MSNbot Media and 3 guests

You cannot post new topics in this forumYou cannot reply to topics in this forumYou cannot edit your posts in this forumYou cannot delete your posts in this forumYou cannot post attachments in this forum